Why the Contrarian Chose Her Name
Contrarian, from what I've been told, is a real word. Derived from "contrary," it refers to someone who likes to go against a commonly-held opinion. That's me.
Wherever there's a group of people who hold a uniform opinion, even if it's about the effects of dry rot on the structure of their home, I'll be there.
Peevish that not one person has bothered to look at the circumstances from a different angle, I'll find that angle. Then I'll argue pursuasively why my way of looking at things is valid, so that everyone is nodding their head and murmuring "Right, right..."
Then I'll get irritated when people go right on holding the same opinions that they held before.
Being a contrarian isn't easy. We're never the most popular people in the group, mainly because we resist adopting the most popular view. And if we did find ourselves the most popular, we'd have to figure out a way to be less popular! And we have to be annoyingly consistent, which is hard when the popular view shifts with the wind, forcing us to adjust accordingly. And being human, we often fail at consistency.
But rest assured, as long as we exist, Disney will never control more than 90% of our culture, nighttime soaps will never dominate more than 5 nights a week, and .5 out of every 10 people will not try that new diet program. ; >